I'm about to start taking my 9 year old son fishing. He has never fished before, only caught crabs off whitby pier .
My question is, How the hell do I start to teach him how to fly fish ?
My brother taught me, which consisted of as few minutes showing me how to cast, a few minutes showing me how to tie a good knot then just getting on with it. He said he hadn't paid a full days fishing to stand their watching me !
Obviously I can't do this with my son as it will scare him off. I like the idea of him fishing. We could have some good days together.
So...here it is again

How would you teach a 9 year old boy to fly fish ?

Cheers

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Theres nothing so gloomy, sad or drear. As to stand at the bar in a pub with no beer.

First of all dont worry about it
just take him out to a local stillwater with an 8" 5wt road (8ft as he probaly wont have the power in his arms to cast anything heavier)
then be patient and show him how to cast( try taking him to a grass field to practice casting first) then when he can comfortably cast a line take him to a stillwater and teach him about types of flys ect start with the obvious floating line and one light fly and help him along. and with all the fish in stillwaters thsese days it shouldnt be long untill he catches his first fish...(i pressume that you were talking about fishing for rainbow and brownies???) then he will be hooked -remember the most important thing is that he has fun and enjoys it
Good luck to you and your son and you never know one day he might even teach you a thing or two about fishing!!
Best regards,
Mike

Tricky, because if it goes badly - bored, cold, catch nowt - it could put him off for life. I've seen this happen absolutely loads of times. I didn't get fly fishing until I was about 30 and had the patience to untangle and stalk. My son is 10 and hasn't got the patience stand still. I'm going to leave it a few years and make sure it's an easy catching situation, after a few lessons.

Hi Carsick14
I've taught two sons and three grandsons to fish. Firstly I take him to a still water fishery on a nice warm day with not too much wind where he has a good chance of catching. Rivers are out far too hard. He needs a light fly rod 9' 5# weight.
Before you go fishing give the lad casting lessons on a large lawn or field. Make sure he has the casting action right before venturing onto a fishery. The fishery is not the place to learn basis skills as good fun time will be lost as well as the lads interest.
Once he's got the basic casting action and can get a line out that's the time to go. he'll soon pick up knots and flies or lures and what equipment is for.
For the first two to three seasons don't plan on fishing too much yourself tell yourself your time is his and don't feel cheated. Concentrate on helping him to cast consistently, fish his fly or lure correctly, and do your best to get him a fish. This gives the young lads a tremendous boost. If he wants to take his first trout home to show his Mum let him.
By patient coaching and investing your time the lad will soon become a competent fly fisherman if he takes to fishing.

Good luck.

I would say - don't think about doing any serious fishing yourself until he's started to get the hang of it. Equally, don't fuss him too much - it's a balancing act of letting him find out for himself and knowing when to step in when he needs it.

For what it's worth, my son and I fought like cat and dog from the start and still do. We enjoy fishing together - apart

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"Take not out your 'ounds on a werry windy day" Surtees.

i started with my dad, proper river, shown what to do, left to do it, and hated it,
i think he realised, he then took me up a tiny river, more climbing over rocks and through undergrowth, we found a dead sheep in a gorge, i fell in, he fell in, we eventually found a deep pool and somehow caught a tiny trout, not hurting it was the main bit, which was odd cos we ate the next one after cooking it on leaves, more carbon and dirt but it was my catch.

an awful lot of what i do now was formed on that one single day.

Cheers guys. He will be using my Wychwood SLA rod. 9ft No6.
I intend on taking him to a field near our house to practice casting. Thought I'd tie some wool onto some cast. I just want to wait for some better weather first.
I have a fair idea on how to keep him interested because I train our local under 9's football team. You need to get the knack of how to be with the kids and how to keep them having fun when the weather is sh1t.
I think he'll catch on fairly quickly. He sat and watched me tie an apps bloodworm the other night then asked if he could give it a go. I'll happily say that it was better than my first effort !
When we go, the stillwater we'll be going to can be nice and easy. I have never been and blanked. I don't think anybody has been there and blanked. I can pretty much guarantee he will catch on his first trip, which of course will be filleted on site so we can eat his catch for tea.
Once again cheers for the ideas.

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Theres nothing so gloomy, sad or drear. As to stand at the bar in a pub with no beer.

Spot on. If he catches first time, he'll likely be hooked and prob enjoy it more too. Is this his first time fly fishing, or first time of any form of fishing?

I taught myself, but I can still remember the day when I was about 14, whilst still learning the ropes as I moved over from coarse fishing, going to a 'fly fishery' with another learner friend and catching 6 rainbows. Looking back, I can assuredly say that ANY hook, tied with ANY pattern/bait, on just about any line (including tied directly to the fly line ) that day would have caught fish ! However, getting on and fishing on my own, I had a great time casting out messy 20ft casts and changing between flies when I thought one wasn't working. It certainly hooked me, and I was super proud of my catches when Mum came to collect me and my mate up.

In short, teach him the basics, take him to a well stocked pond, and let him get on with it he'll have a big grin on his face when he gets the first one in!

Get him golf clubs much cheaper in the long run ..

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Imagination is more important than knowledge.

Its his first attempt of any kind of fishing. At the back end of last summer we were spending the w/e at whitby in our caravan. We went for a walk down into town and he bought himself a crab line and some squid for bait. He spent the next 2 hours having a ball of a time catching crab after crab. I think this experience is the reason why he has started asking me if he can start fishing. He's always full of questions when I get home from a days fishing, asking me how many fish I caught, what flys I used etc etc. He seems to have a genuine interest in it.

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Theres nothing so gloomy, sad or drear. As to stand at the bar in a pub with no beer.